Questions tagged [creature-design]
For questions regarding the viability of a life-form design. These questions should focus on biologically plausible creatures.
2,683
questions
4
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Is this host and 'parasite' interaction feasible?
So I have an idea for this relationship between bloodsucking and flesheating creatures and a massive host. It should be noted that this will probably take place in my more alieny world, but basic ...
- 1,615
5
votes
2
answers
164
views
Plausibility of the Yale
So, recently I've been struggling to create a bestiary that includes mythical medieval creatures, but trying to make them as plausible as possible.
Recently I've been struggling with one in particular,...
- 155
0
votes
2
answers
106
views
What would an animal living and migrating with a perpetual storm look like? [closed]
Basically, I got these things called Stormstokers, which, by way of magic, maintain and inhabit storms. They migrate with these storms, guiding the storms along ley lines so they don't run out of ...
3
votes
2
answers
105
views
What could justify a fantastic amphibian?
The fantastic amphibian is a 2-metre-long generic herptile which has both lungs and gills. Curiously, it can breathe underwater indefinitely without ever surfacing for air, yet can also survive ...
- 16.3k
0
votes
0
answers
102
views
How would an animal see with a cross shaped pupil? [duplicate]
I have this omnivorous crepuscular arboreal alien species, and I gave them a somewhat unique iris structure, that I would love to hear your thoughts on.
Here is an image that breaks down how it works (...
4
votes
4
answers
1k
views
How would a creature adverse to solar energy (ie, a wraith) get energy and what would it do with it?
Wraiths are an animal kingdom, radiating cold, and living off of the inverse of the solar energy other animals live off of. I do have blue cottony moon-trees, technically, so that might be an option. ...
1
vote
0
answers
38
views
How big can a sea turtle get? [duplicate]
So, I'm working on a bestiary and I want to fill the oceans of my world with big greatures, but keeping plausibility by respecting the square cube law, the ecology niches the beasts might occupy, etc.
...
- 155
1
vote
2
answers
171
views
How would combat with war beasts but no cavalry look? [closed]
The setting I have in progress lacks horses and horse analogs (with the exception of reindeer, but they are a limited resource), but has many larger beasts capable of being tamed, i.e. war elephants, ...
- 19
4
votes
4
answers
733
views
Bicolor/double-sided feathers as part of a thermoregulatory apparatus?
The project I'm working on right now has a much longer day than ours, which would result also then in higher thermal swings. Looking at earth and humans, depending on the solar radiation an area gets, ...
- 704
2
votes
2
answers
152
views
Can mammal hypothetically evolve their own version of unidirectional breathing?
As the title suggests, can mammal evolve unidirectional breathing? Not the same as in birds but still qualifies as a unidirectional breathing.
(I was trying to make a future mammalian species ...
- 37
7
votes
4
answers
2k
views
How could breastfeeding/suckling work for a beaked animal?
I've started working casually on a project with psuedo-dinosaurian animals (not really related to earth life, but I'm using very tetrapodal body plans) and its come up that a claude of grazers would ...
-2
votes
2
answers
102
views
Adaptations for Anthropophagy [closed]
Let's say there are quadrupedal mammals close to around 100kg that have adapted to live in a typical medieval city and feed on predominantly human beings. The city and the animals therein have existed ...
- 16.3k
-1
votes
1
answer
122
views
How could small animals survive a decade in this world?
Short version:
Living beings in this world take a decade to reach true diversity; how could the beings from rat to fox size live long enough for this? Is hibernation viable?
Long version:
In this ...
- 101
2
votes
2
answers
96
views
Role of mouth size in ability to replicate human phonemes
(If you're uninterested in any of the background info, boiled down question is in the second paragraph)
As part of my worldbuilding, I have become very interested in conlanging; of particular interest ...
- 704
7
votes
2
answers
234
views
Could an azhdarchid pterosaur take off and fly while being ridden by a human?
Could humans theoretically ride any of the largest azhdarchid pterosaurs, assuuming a wingspan of about 10.5m and weight of about 200-250kg for the largest azhdarchids such as Hatzegopteryz or ...
- 73
6
votes
1
answer
736
views
Can a Tidally-Breathing Animal Possess a Syrinx?
I have been imagining/designing a reptile-like animal that breathes tidally, but possesses a syrinx for complex vocalization. Is this biomechanically possible, or is unidirectional breathing a ...
- 73
10
votes
5
answers
5k
views
How big can a chicken get?
I'm working on a Spec Evo project and I'm wondering if there's a possibility for domesticated chickens, the closest living relative to the T-Rex, to regain those massive sizes.
How did these chickens ...
2
votes
2
answers
353
views
Under what circumstances could this dragon-like creature carry a human? [closed]
Can a draconic or pterosaur-like flying creature weighing about 1-1.5 times that of an average human carry a human through the air for a distance of about 10 miles? If not, what atmospheric and/or ...
- 81
4
votes
1
answer
92
views
Could chromatophores function suspended in fluid?
just wondering if there's any way chromatophores could function while suspended in fluid (maybe something similar to hemolymph?) I'm basing this off of mollusk chromatophores in particular, which as ...
- 41
1
vote
5
answers
202
views
Could a Creature Evolve to have a BUILT IN terrarium/nursery [closed]
In my world there is a species (who's name Im still working on) but this species has a built in nursery or terrarium.
This "Terrarium' is found in the stomach where you can actively see the ...
- 57
0
votes
0
answers
42
views
Can the hemoglobin be fed something besides iron to make blood a different color? [duplicate]
A bit of context here. A species of Fairies in my world have silver-colored blood, and while researching for that, I learned that hemoglobins essentially require blood to be red because they need iron ...
- 163
2
votes
2
answers
137
views
What is the optimal number of fins for maximum maneuverability of an aquatic organism?
I am deciding how many fins to give a race of aquatic "humanoids" for maximum maneuverability in the water. It is a given that they would have tail and pectoral fins because they have very ...
- 149
5
votes
1
answer
101
views
Insect like muscles for a human skeleton that is alive, would it be able to move in a "snappy" capatult way?
Many insects overcome the issue of limited space for muscle growth by developing "bow" muscle-tendon systems. In this system, a muscle contracts against a lock, building up energy, and then ...
user107612
5
votes
5
answers
2k
views
Is a four-armed humanoid body-plan as realistic as a centaur-like body-plan?
Many designs for sapient aliens and sapient fantasy races alike - including one of my own - resemble four-armed humanoids; As covered in other questions on this site, a six-limbed vertebrate-analog is ...
- 2,176
3
votes
1
answer
179
views
Is my concept for Writhing Ones viable? [closed]
My idea for an ent-like species is as follows.
The Writhing Ones are a race of giant eusocial nematodes. They evolved to collaborate for the benefit of the collective and over time, colonies grew into ...
- 113
5
votes
9
answers
2k
views
Aliens with an extra-set of ears- any possible benefits?
While doing some concept drawings of an alien species for a project of mine I somehow wound up drawing a head with two sets of ears, one pair on the top of the head and the other lower with one on ...
- 3,169
2
votes
1
answer
119
views
How does a bipedal amphibian use its legs in water?
Ok so I'm writing a story with humanoid animals that developed in water but adapted to instead live near large bodies of water like lakes. They have legs and arms as well as a tail (About 5'8feet (...
2
votes
2
answers
216
views
How plausible is a Cryovenom?
In my science-fantasy world there is a creature that secretes a venom (called a cryovenom) whose proteins catalyze a spontaneous crystallization of the water inside the interstitial fluids and ...
- 301
5
votes
3
answers
232
views
True living fossils?
Could there be a living creature that is so old that part of it has fossilized? Here are some criteria I have for the thing to be described as a fossil:
It has to be over 10,000 years old.
A portion ...
user110470
3
votes
1
answer
185
views
Designing giant space creatures becomes a popular fad in a super advanced post-scarcity society. How large can space creatures get?
This is a completely post-scarcity society. Robots and automated systems run the economy and most research. AIs are commonplace, and available to all in the human-like, completely obedient, and super-...
- 31
7
votes
6
answers
3k
views
How would a predator adapt to prey on sapient species?
In this case, I am referring to my orc-equivalent species who are closely related to the true elves, adapting to the intelligence of the elves with camouflage and mimicry, as well as tusks that are ...
- 113
2
votes
1
answer
198
views
book lungs on a human?
I want my character (a human spider hybrid) to have book lungs along with human lungs, would there be any glaring disadvantages to this, would they be fragile be sensitive to smells? .
- 51
3
votes
4
answers
629
views
multiple retinas in one eye
is it possible to have multiple retinas, would there be advantages to this? Or would it just not work at all? I have a diagram (a shitty one) and more explanation if needed
Edit: sorry for the ...
- 51
3
votes
1
answer
135
views
Gene-smiths creating super warriors. They need a secondary digestive system with a new super food
Got a faction that's making super warriors.
The gene-smiths of my story managed to biologically engineer a far better human body. That's easy. This includes a far more developed digestive system, ...
- 8,483
7
votes
6
answers
4k
views
No stomach, how do I eat?
Imagine a creature that through congenital diseases and mutations starts slowly losing its digestive system as it becomes less and less efficient and smaller until it is vestigial and eventually ...
user107612
11
votes
10
answers
4k
views
Is this super soldier viable and grounded?
Below is a excerpt of a set of notes that I have compiled that is the basis for a science fiction story that I am writing. I have spent a fair amount of time trying to come up with a close/hard/sci-...
- 135
5
votes
1
answer
104
views
What's an effective swimming stroke for a species with gliding membranes?
I'm writing about an alien species of lean-bodied, long-limbed bipeds who have vestigial gliding membranes stretching between their elbows and hips (female) or knees (male); see: https://...
1
vote
2
answers
212
views
Does a saber-toothed humanoid make sense as an animal?
The creature has the head and neck of a saber-toothed predator. It has long upper canines and kills with a strong downward swing of the head, hence its neck is strengthened to perform this task
Its ...
- 16.3k
3
votes
1
answer
148
views
How could a Massive Animal Thermoregulate?
In my world, there are massive vertebrate creatures that live on the planet's savannahs and rainforests. Alongside others that live in the frigid south pole and deep in the ocean trenches. I'm ...
5
votes
2
answers
130
views
Growth rate of super moss
Following an answer to aprevious question I posted, this world does is filled with moss and lichen fields that make other plant growth (and crop cultivation) impossible.
But after researching mosses ...
- 1,459
0
votes
1
answer
121
views
Designing the best Meat livestock [closed]
I have been wondering what would be the best animal to produce meat, excluding insects and artificial meat.
The following questions are meant to provide ideas:
Would it be better for it to be an ...
- 1,459
7
votes
6
answers
1k
views
Labour-Intensive staple crop
I am trying to design a staple crop (preferably grain or tuber, but can be anything if necessary) that is very productive, capable of sustaining great population densities, but is also very labour ...
- 1,459
12
votes
9
answers
2k
views
How would a creature adapted to life in a completely dark environment also have the ability to change its skin pattern like an octopus?
I'm in a bit of a pickle - I've designed a monster for a horror novel I'm working on, but I've added too many characteristics that I like for it to make logical sense. One of these features is that ...
- 207
4
votes
6
answers
2k
views
How would one design a superhuman?
I'm working on a story where the MC gets his body modified like Kamen Rider's. As such he becomes stronger than a normal human. But instead of being cyborg enhancements, they are biological ...
6
votes
1
answer
316
views
Emotive Plate Eyes
Drawings included to better illustrate what‘s going on here. Also because I’m utterly addicted to doodling lately.
I recently learned about the Grideye Fish, and it inspired a design for a sci-if ...
- 383
7
votes
7
answers
2k
views
How can I make two hearts work?
It’s an occasional trope in sci-fi where warrior species get two hearts to better survive combat. Like the Star Trek Klingons (apparently), Halo Sangheili and the 40K Space Marines.
However, two ...
- 45.5k
3
votes
1
answer
109
views
Combining a electrocyte and a muscle fibre
Basically the title itself. Is it possible to combine the function of a electrocyte and a myocyte, such that muscles double up as electric organs?
Electric organ
Myocyte
Observing the anatomy of a ...
1
vote
2
answers
1k
views
How biologically plausible is my snake species? [closed]
How biologically plausible is my snake species? The young are about 25 meters long, and the adults average 90 meters. Their proportions are like an ordinary snake’s. What kinds of advantages and ...
- 147
2
votes
2
answers
104
views
Debris protection for spiracle-like breathing holes, except 'nose' hair
Follow-up from: Where to place breathing holes/spiracles on a bipedal humanoid
My humanoid bipedal species and other creatures sharing a common ancestor primarily breathe through spiracle-like ...
- 343
8
votes
2
answers
872
views
Anatomical requirements for human speech
I am writing a species of humanoid whose skull shape more resembles that of young baboons, with somewhat large canine teeth. They are fellow primates and have a similar upright posture to humans, ...
user108013